>> well, that's going to do it for this edition of news 4 today. we'll be back in 25 minutes with a local news update. >> join us at 9:00 for a full hour of news. right now, we take you live to the northeast, times square, where they are dealing with that massive blizzard. we're going to the "today" show. they'll have more coverage on this. good morning. the blizzard of 2013. an enormous winter storm packing hurricane-force winds and blizzard conditions sweeps over the northeast. the storm dropping more than 2.5 feet of snow in some areas and leaving more than a half a million customers without power. up to 100 cars stranded on the long island expressway overnight. we're live in the hardest hit areas. where is he? the massive manhunt for a former los angeles police officer suspected in three murders intensifies. this morning the latest on the investigation. we'll talk to his former boss

about a very ominous delivery. and she's back. the teenager who got a harsh sentence after mouthing off to a judge appears before him in court once again. >> i apologize not only to the court and you but to my family. >> but are her contrite words enough to set her free? we've got the answers, today, enough to set her free? we've got the answers, today, saturday, february 9, 2013. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good morning. welcome to "today" on this saturday morning. you see we redecorated studio 1a a little bit. i'm lester holt reporting from new york city's central park.

my colleague, erica hill is, might i point out warm inside studio 1a. good morning. >> who drew the short straw? good morning. good morning to everyone at home. forecasters warning this storm would be a powerhouse. they were right on target. not very far from studio 1a, we have a look for you at times square. the crews there hard at work cleaning up the snow. also look for you in new jersey, strong winds and surf clashing along the jersey shore. and i do have to point out, when we first came in and you saw that shot of rockefeller plaza, you didn't see snow. that's because they have been up since the wee hours getting rid of all the white stuff. it almost looks as if there was no storm outside studio 1a. it's pretty amazing. >> yeah. let's bring folks up to date with the latest now, erica. at least one person is reported dead after a traffic accident in upstate new york. the snowfall totals across the northeast are substantial. in parts of connecticut, nearly three feet has fallen. boston and portland, maine, have reported snowfalls of up to 25

inches. here in new york city, up to about a foot of snow. power has been knocked out to nearly 650,000 customers, most of them in massachusetts and rhode island. more than 1,800 flights have been canceled so far. that's on top of the 3,600 that never took off friday in advance of the storm, erica. >> yeah. with all the numbers you laid out, easy to understand why the storm is giving snowplows, snowblowers, and shovels and the people using them a run for their money. also adding to the wintry mess on the ground there's hurricane-force winds in areas creating dangerous blizzard conditions. out on long island, up to 100 cars stuck for hours. normally a busy expressway. and if we want -- we want to talk about the size of the storm. look at this. it really gives you a sense as it spreads across the region. seen from space here, making its way all the way up the east coast. you can make out of the eastern

edge of the united states is the tip of florida. >> a massive one. we have coverage across the northeast. reporters standing by in boston and hartford. we'll check in with them in a minute. first in central park, this belies the storm. this is the beauty of the storm. it will bring out folks to bring kids and dogs to play in the snow. midtown manhattan behind me. the city of manhattan is -- is virtually fine. the roads are fairly clear. they've done a good job on getting the roads open. you can get around. and fortunately, of course, this is not a workday. getting in and out of the city, of course, that is going to be a different situation. in new york, 12 counties have been declared under states of emergency this morning as they try to get those roads in and out of the metropolitan area open. meantime, when conditions quickly deteriorated on long island on friday, dozens of drivers, as erica noted, became stranded on the long island expressway. sergeant vincent erwan from the

suffolk county highway patrol joins us. good morning. >> good morning, sir. >> can you tell us what happened? was the l.i.e. actually closed and these folks drove on and ignored the signs? >> the signs were closed by recommendation for emergency vehicles only. it's mother nature that's actually closing it with at least the foot or more of this heavy, thick snow that's just stopping vehicles in their tracks. >> were any folks actually left overnight, stranded in their cars overnight? >> we were able to at least remove the persons from the vehicles and the vehicles be left behind. but we did a good job. we have another four-wheel drive vehicles where we can get up and down. we've been able to move up and down the roadways and remove any people from the cars. >> and we should point out, you're pretty far east of where i am here in new york city. is it still snowing there? are you still getting people

stranded even as we speak? >> yes, yes. every time we pass, somebody new is sideways across the road blocking the one path of the lane. and san mateo still coming down out here. >> are you having trouble getting to any of these folks? >> it's20-mile-an-hour with four-wheel drive truck to check these miles and miles of roadway. >> and i would assume folks are calling in on cell phones. do they always know exactly where they are? are they able to direct them, the help? >> no. they usually don't know where they are. sometimes they just tried to dig themselves out. but they cause a line of four-wheel drive cars that might be trying to get by. that type of situation. >> all right. well, let's hope that this conversation serves as a warning to anyone else before they head

out in their cars. sergeant, we appreciate your time this morning. thank you very much, sir. >> all right, sir. connecticut is another area directly in the storm's path. the weather channel's janel klein from hartford. >> reporter: people are waking up to more than three feet of snow with drifts in some places up to seven feet high. that's made travel almost impossible in this region with visibility less than a mile in plays. so bad that governor malloy has shut down all of the roads statewide saying it is just too dangerous for people to be out. emergency vehicles are even having trouble getting through to people who are stranded or having health concerns. so this really is a serious storm. that comes after travel was shut down in the air, on buses, and on trains yesterday. most of the region coming to a standstill as this storm moved in. and people at home aren't having a lot of -- a lot of an easier time. power has been a big concern for many people.

in fact, places in connecticut have 80% of customers now without power. thousands of people in the dark this morning. and repairs are going to be really tough as the high winds continue. there are extra repair people coming from out of state. as you know, lester, travel being so difficult, it could be tough for them to even get to those lines much less fix them. so several days of power outages expected here in connecticut. >> all right. not great news. thank you. let's head out to boston now. this storm could be one for the record books up there. al roker is standing by in copley square. good morning. good to see you. >> reporter: good to see you, lester. and you can see copley square just behind me. there's about 20, 24 inches of snow back in the square. as we take a look at some video from overnight, folks were really hunkering down. they were taking the warnings seriously. governor duval patrick ordering all roads closed on -- in the state at 4:00. some people credibility sized him, but -- criticized him, but

it looked like that was a good idea that others would have wanted to follow earlier in the day. you see folks walking around. but as this system started to wind up, it was causing big problems. rhode island particularly hard hit. last night during "nightly news," we were getting reports of power outages already beginning. they continue again through the day today. they have been warned that they could be without power for at least seven days. let's show you where the system is right now. it is getting itself together. it is winding up. and it is going to be still a powerful system that's making its way now offshore. the snow ending back through new jersey, western new york. but you can still see the powerful circulation, boston, deeper areas of blue, that's where snow is still falling at the rate of one to two inches per hour. and as we look to the future and you see this system moving away, it's not going to be until late tonight when most of the areas will clear of all this snow.

that is figure to still leave -- that is going to still leave another additional two to six inches, maybe eight inches of snow along the new england coastline. inland, we're going to see little bit less. another maybe four to six inches of snow and back to the west even further, the areas in white, about one to three inches. the winds are also going to be a big problem over the next 24 hours. maintaining winds, they're going to be looking at about 25 to 30 mile-per-hour sustained winds. but wind gusts will continue late tonight into the 30 and 40 mile-per-hour-plus range. so lester, still a lot of blowing and drifting snow. roads are going to continue to be a big problem. passable roads. and again, the winds will continue to whip and drive that snow and keep visibilities down. lester? >> all right, al. thank you very much. fortunately the snow has stopped here in new york city. we've gotten a break now. now the cleanup. let's go back to studio 1a now

and erica. >> a lot of cleanup there. thanks. in california, authorities are still frantically searching for the former los angeles cop accused of going on a killing spree. and there are new photos today of fugitive christopher dorner. new surveillance photos taken days ago. police are hoping they might spark a fresh lead in a trail that appears to have gone cold. the last trace of the former lapd officer, his burned out car found on thursday near big bear mountain. law enforcement officers are combing that area, combing homes and woods for any signs of dorner. so far, nothing. police across california remain on high alert. dorner is accused of killing two people in irvine on sunday, then shooting three police officers, killing one, in riverside county on thursday. dorner posted a manifesto on facebook. the killings appear to be revenge for being fired from the lapd in 2008. william bratten is dorner's former boss, the los angeles police chief from 2002 to 2009.

nice to have you with us. as you're looking at this, appears to have gone cold. the last thing really that was connected to dorner was the burned out car found on thursday. could that have been a decoy? >> actually, my understanding is that the car got stuck in the mud up there. so there was some thought that it was a diversion to draw attention 80 miles outside of los angeles. but there was speculation that he actually got stuck there. it was unintended. >> that was why it ended up there in that way, that's why it was burned there. but the trail has at this point seemingly gone cold. no sense of where he may be. and you pointed out earlier this morning that this is actually sort of an important date today. >> this is the fourth anniversary of his dismissal from the lapd. four years ago he received his discharge papers, if you will, his dismissal papers on february 9, 2009. so the day of significance in his mind in as much as his grievances steam center on his

dismissal. >> this manifesto is actually helpful to officers. >> very helpful. we had the opportunity to look at three sets of profiles by profilers over the last two days. and they're pretty universal that the triggering event in this man's life was, in fact, this dismissal. he is a -- an injustice collector, a term they use. he collects injustices and never lets them go. and evidently they finally reached a tipping point that led to the series of violent acts the last several days. >> he remembered you. there's a picture of the two of you together. he sent a challenge coin that had multiple bullet holes in it to cnn's anderson cooper with a note that said, "thanks, but no thanks." when you knew that that had been sent, this coin that had apparently come from you, what did you think? >> it was disturbing. it added another element to it, if you will. that coin actually was given to him as a sign of respect and good luck when he was shipping off to iraq. and to have it sent back in that condition, not quite what you'd expect. >> no. quickly, you said he collects

injustices. is this the type of person who will turn himself in or give up? >> the profilers that i've spoken to indicate that they doubt that very much. the last thing he would want would be to be arrested by the lapd and do a perp walk. that would be the last injustice or the most significant one. >> all right. good to have you here. >> thank you. want to check the other top stories from jenna wolfe. good morning. >> good morning to you. good morning, everyone. former penn state coach joe paterno's wife is speaking out this morning, defending her late husband. sue paterno calls joe honest and rigidly moral in a letter to former penn state football players. she's fighting back against accusations against joe paterno in the report. accusations that followed in the wake of the jerry sandusky scandal. her letter comes as the paterno family prepares to release its own report responding to findings tomorrow morning. the tour bus company involved in a deadly crash in southern california is not running this morning. federal regulators shut it down

saying the company's buses are not safe to be on the road now. the move comes days after one bus slammed into several vehicles and crashed, leaving eight people dead and dozens skrured. regulate -- injured. regulators found safety violations on other buses that the company owns. it is farewell but not good-bye. at least not yet for outgoing secretary of defense leon panetta. president obama praised panetta for his many years of service and his work in helping to take down osama bin laden during a farewell ceremony on friday. panetta has not announced when his last day in office will be, but it is expected to be late next week. just because she's a lion doesn't mean she can't brag. the proud parent of a little king brought the latest out for everybody tofmz lo see. look at my baby. this is the first time the cubs got outside since they were born two weeks ago at the ecological preserve in colombia. said the baby after being exposed for the first time,

acuna ma tata. >> sounds advanced -- >> i brought it together. >> you had five seconds. >> okay. an hour and a half might have been excessive. >> that's the cutest baby cut ever. >> how cute is that some two siblings, two more like it running around. >> thanks. and we have more from the national forecast, bill in for dylan. >> good morning. wouldn't it be great if one of the storms didn't live up to the hype? insane in new england. that's good saturday morning to you. i'm storm team 4 meteorologist

chuck bell. we have a little bit of sunshine first thing this morning, but it is really windy outside. current temperatures in the upper 20s and low 30s, but windchills are back into the teens. not much in the way of precipitation today. that is welcome news. but sunny and really windy all day long. temperatures climbing only into the mid-30s by about noontime today. highs up into the upper 30s to near 40 but a lot of wind so hold on to your hats. >> four more updates on the blizzard of 2013 coming up. >> we'll look for that. thanks. president obama is gearing up for another fight with congressional lawmakers. this one over the impending sweeping spending cuts that could have a major effect on you. kristen welker's at the white house. good morning. >> reporter: erica, good morning to you. senior administration officials say president obama will spend the weekend working on his state of the union address. it's a speech that will focus largely on the economy and the middle class. this as washington gets closer to yet another potential economic crisis. amy baca ohlert is a high school

counselor from colorado. she's traveled to washington with other educators with a message to congress. >> the time when we are looking at ways to keep our schools safer, these across-the-board cuts would impact those positions and those people who keep our schools safe. >> reporter: she's talking about the so-called sequester. $85 billion in spending cuts set to kick in march 1. meant to be so egregious that lawmakers would have to come to agreement on deficit reduction. but that hasn't happened. and time is running out. >> if the sequester is allowed to go forward, thousands of americans who work in fields like national security, education, or clean energy are likely to be laid off. >> reporter: the cuts would also amount to a 13% reduction for the military. >> this will badly damage our national defense and compromise our ability to respond to crises in a dangerous world. >> reporter: in washington, it's the same old sticking points with the president insisting the deal include new taxes.

>> we sure as heck should be willing to ask those of us who are luckiest in society to close a few loopholes and deductions that the average american doesn't get. >> reporter: while republicans say it's time to reform entitlements and cut spending. >> we believe there's a better way to lower the deficit, but americans do not support sacrificing real spending cuts for more tax hikes. >> i think the chances of a deal to avert the sequester are less than 50/50 because you're looking at a very short time frame between now and march 1 to deal with a very complex number and a large set of potential cuts to the federal budget. >> reporter: meanwhile, for millions of americans, the deadline isn't about party politics. it's about preserving what's important. >> come together to find a solution so that we don't have cuts that will harm our students. >> reporter: while the president has a quiet day, the first lady travels to chicago to attend the funeral of hadia pendleton. the teen who performed at

president obama's inauguration and who was shot to death several days later. erica? >> kristen welker at the white house. thanks. once again, lester? all right. thanks. it was an amazing feat of airmanship and an incredible display of steely determination and grit. chances are you haven't heard about it. 14 months ago on a flight from newark to warsaw, carrying many american passengers, an airline pilot faced potential disaster. the plane's wheels were stuck. he saved everyone on board, and now he's being hailed as the polish "sully." in the skies over warsaw, lott polish airlines flight 16 with 231 on board was just second away from attempting an emergency landing like no other. captain add tad bronaugh had -- spent an hour and 20 minutes

trying to land with no wheels. to no avail, he had no choice but to belly flop the plane with runners acting like a sled on to a concrete runway. in the final moments, the passengers were ready for the worst. like the other passengers, greg cohen had his head between his legs. what were the final instructions before landing? >> they had us get in ready position, you know. they were telling us to brace for impact. praying to god that everything was going to be okay. >> and then it happened. flight 16 touched down at more than 140 miles per hour. this is the moment of contact on the runway shot from inside the cabin. >> and than -- then we touched

down, the impact never came. i was waiting for this like car crash to be in an accident. >> no bounce? >> to be honest, it was one of the smoothest landings i've ever had. >> incredibly, it was a smooth touchdown. a miracle in warsaw. >> the plane came to a stop, and everybody roared with applause. [ applause ] >> but it didn't last more than two seconds. you had the flight attendant immediately stand up and just yell, "get off this plane now!" >> suddenly there was another danger -- there was smoke and a fire on the right side engine. passengers rushed for the emergency slides. and a few fell as they tried to run away. but emergency crews were able to douse the flames, and the fuel leak quickly. the plane didn't explode. except for a few scrapes and bruises, everyone got off

unharmed. >> i immediately -- i thought that our captain was poland's version of sully. >> same incredible amount of airmanship. >> yes. >> what would you like to say to the captain? >> i want to say thank you. if it wasn't for him, maybe 230-plus people wouldn't be here right now. and i'm forever indebted to him for that. >> captain bronaugh is a polish national hero and has been honored for his heroism in the united states. still to come, the latest on the massive blizzard blanketing the northeast. first, this is "today" on nbc.

still ahead, what to do if your travel plans were canceled due to the storm after these messages.

. a big blizzard in the northeast but here in the d.c. area, we are dealing with some strong winds. these are live pictures from union station. there may be some delays or chan cancellations because of the storm in the northeast. we'll keep you posted. we'll have storm team 4's chuck bell with your forecast if a new minutes. it is 7:26 on this saturday, february 9th. in the news now, one woman is dead after police say she charged at them with a knife. it happened at an apartment complex on the 53rd avenue late last night.

when the woman attacked, at least one officer fired their gun, cukilling that woman. another robbery at the university of maryland. it's the fourth in the past two weeks. the latest one happened last night. two armed men held up a group walking down the street. now this is just past thursday another robbery, another robber held up a woman at gunpoint. we're going to check your forecast after the break.

the wind is definitely going to get you this morning. it is gusting out there. let's go to storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell. he's in storm center 4. >> absolutely right, richard. a lot of wind energy outside today as that area of low pressure deepening off the new england coastline is bringing a

blizzard to them. here, wind are really howling. out of the northwest now, 25 to 45 miles an hour. temperatures in the upper 20s and low 30s. windchills are in the teens. as you make your plans to get outside today, bundle up. windchills will be in the teens here for this morning. temperatures up into the upper 30s to near 40 for a high back on this saturday, february 9, 2013. this is a live picture for you of revere beach in massachusetts in the boston area. just one of the areas hardest hit in this blizzard. and over in boston, up to two feet of snow has fallen in parts of the city. i'm erica hill in studio 1a. lester holt is braving elements in new york's central park. the worst is over here, but as we know it is going to be a long day and long weekend of cleanup for so many people. >> yeah. we're down to just a few flurries here. but this storm has dumped nearly

three feet of snow in parts of new england, bringing hurricane-force wind gusts and blizzard conditions. power knocked out to more than a half million homes and businesses. up to 100 cars stranded on the long island expressway. and we're told cars still getting stuck out there as it continues to snow. we'll have much more throughout the morning. >> thanks. i want to show you, you may have seen this video earlier in the week in other news. this is a teenager mouthing off to a florida judge. ends up with 30 days behind bars. [ bleep ] >> on friday she had the chance, a second chance you might say, in court. and we'll tell you how that went down. plus, we're going to catch up with nelson mandela's granddaughter who are starring in a new reality show. they'll talk with lester in a bit. first, we're going to go back to the storm. >> yeah. let's start the half-hour out with the blizzard blanketing the northeast. al roker is up in boston this morning. al, safe to say you're getting hammered up there. i mean the weather is getting hammered.

>> exactly. there wasn't much to do except sit in a bar last night because it was pretty bad. copley square, you see now, again about two feet of snow here. but even here there's over a foot. we're actually -- kind of packed down. we're on top of it. but the things, the good thing about this was that we were able to predict this storm fairly early. we were talking about this storm back on monday. we were going to watch two areas of low pressure come together. over the last two days, we have an animation to show you just how these came together. clipper system in the north, that's going -- that was bringing the cold air. storm system down to the south had all the energy and the moisture. and over the last 48 hours, they performed to queue, right to the script. it became a classic nor'easter. in fact, it's kind of become -- it's kind of funny, it's art -- life imitating art. during the finale of "30 rock,"

i had a cameo, called it a snow-acaine. this is like a hurricane except with snow. it has wrapped itself together. you see the snow getting itself together. look at the snowfall accumulations. we're expecting at least another eight inches of snow along the coastline of massachusetts on into new england. and we also expect at least another four to six inches of snow to the west of that. so we've got a lot of snow to talk about. and with winds that are still gusting at hurricane force, we're going to have a lot of problems over the next 24 hours with blowing and drifting. and wherever the power outages are existing right now, lester, they're going to have to stay that way. with these winds, they can't get the cherrypickers up to get those guys up and women up to fix the lines. so it is going to be a situation that's going to remain fluid, remain changing, but it's also going to cause problems for people trying to get their power back.

lester? >> you say another eight inches on top of what you have there no now? >> absolutely yeah. we're getting snowfall at the rate of one to two inches per hour. we're expecting this for another three to four hours. some people say, oh, you're hyping the storm. the fact is, the storm has lived up to all the potential that we thought it would have. >> yeah. amazing watching those come together. thanks. hang in there. right now back to 1a and erica. thank you. bill karins is in for dylan with a check of the national forecast. things aren't quiet in the rest of the nation heerth. >> -- nation either. >> no. there are a half million people without power, they have social media. all they have sometimes are r cell phones. they're angry because they don't have information. roads haven't been plowed. they realize they'll be stuck in their homes tonight. >> part of that, as al pointed out, is because it's not safe to get out.

>> my greatest concern is for the elderly. you have elderly people stuck in their home with single-digit temperatures. people got to get them to a warm place. >> if you have a neighbor that you can get to safely, walking distance, go check on them. >> the biggest good morning, everybody. i'm storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell. outside our window in northwest washington, the wind is just roaring by. current temperatures in the upper 20s and low 30s.

windchills remain in the teens. if you're on your way out early this morning to get your weekend started, be ready for windchills in the teens through at least this morning. highs later on today, mid to upper 30s. near 40 down to the south. a much nicer day coming our way tomorrow before rain drops return. >> now back it central park and lester holt. >> all right. thanks. earlier this morning i had a chance to speak to the granddaughter of the former president of south africa, nelson mandela. they are starring in a new show called "being mandela." a reality show. i began by asking them why they decided to appear in a reality show. >> well, we wanted to give viewers an inside into our family. we come from such a famous family, the mandela family. and we thought it might be a good idea to showcase our daily lives, our personal aspirations. and because we're family, there's a bit of conflict in there. more importantly, we wanted to showcase south africa, our beautiful country. >> so so how your grandfather? >> our grandmother's doing

great. we saw him before we came. last week, we spent time with him. he wanted to say bye because we were coming. he's doing well. we see him all the time. he's in good spirits and is happy to be honored by family. >> that's great. on the show, at one point you talk about the naming traditions in the mandela family. i want to show a clip and talk more about that. here it is. >> okay. >> my grandmother winnie came by to do the naming of my son. she literally is the one responsible of naming everybody in the family. so she was there on the day. >> it's quite a procedure. my grandmother spends like countless days coming up with lists of names. in our family, all our naimes start with a zed. >> are we going to say your grandmother? >> yes, she's virtually with us every day. you will see her a lot. she makes a joke and says we haven't paid her to do the show. she's very much involved in the show. >> and your granddad, you call him big grandpa. >> the kids. the great grandkids call him big

grandpa. >> we're not going to see him -- >> not directly. but you will hear us referencing about him. you will hear us talking about him. >> does she watch reality tv? >> no, he doesn't. you know, our grandfather spends a lot of time at home. you know, we like going out of the house. he reads the papers a lot. >> yeah. >> but no. he doesn't watch reality tv. ours will be the first that he'll get to see. we're excited about that. >> it's also one of the places i found most fascinating and emotional to visit was the prison where your grandfather was held. you went there for the first time and had a deeply emotional experience. >> yes. when i got there, one of the guards who looked after my grandfather in prison told me how he smuggled me in to see my grandfather -- >> as an infant. >> eight months old. he wanted to give him a sense of normalcy, to see his grandchild. he took the blankets, covered my face, ran me into the cell. he gave me a hug and kiss. and he took me out. it was emotional just to hear

that i was the first one that he saw. you know, what a special moment that was for him. >> is some of this really kind of discovering your own history as a family? i mean, you know the history. but to now have the cameras following you, are you getting a different picture of your upbringing? >> there are many elements of that on the show. you know, we go to robin island for the first time. this is something we haven't done for 23 years. we've tried countless times before, but for some reason it never happened. it's a very emotional journey for us. it's great that we get to share it with so many people. i think it will teach things about our culture and family and history. so yeah, we're really, really excited. >> as i told you when i sat down, it's an amazing country. we appreciate you coming here and sharing some of it with us. congratulations on the show. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you for being here. appreciate it. >> thank you for having us. >> you can catch the new show, "being mandela," this sunday at 9:00, 8:00 center on cozi-tv. still ahead on "today," big business. the companies that thrive during

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thousands of flights canceled friday. more than 3,000 on friday. more than 1,800 canceled today. the big question, if you were supposed to be on one of those flights, what did you do? amy farley is the news editor and writes the trip doctor column for "travel and leisure" magazine. nice to have you with us. almost as soon as they said we're canceling flights at the airlines, a majority said, hey, we're also waiving all the fees to rebook or if you need to cancel. >> right. >> but when you do need to rebook, they urged everybody to go line. is that the best way to do it? >> you know, i think honestly, exercise every option available to you. we say get on line, get in line if you're at the airport. get on the phone. try every method possible. if you don't want to bother at all and your flight plans are totally flexible, they will often just rebook you automatically. so sometimes you can save yourself the headache. we say try every method possible. >> try every method, including sitting back and letting them do it. in terms of canceling because for some maybe it was a business trip and now there's no longer a reason to go, are there full

refunds being offered? >> you know, that goes airline by airline. i know that jetblue, usairways, and united are the most flexible in offering full refunds or travel vouchers. some other airlines, it's a case-by-case basis. get this touch with your airline. they ought to -- if the whole purpose of the trip is a moot point, they should help you out. >> you mention getting in touch and trying every option possible. at the airport, get on line, try to get on line. and twitter, social media has been effective in these situations. >> i have to say after sandy and now airlines are good on twitter. they're really responsive. often it's a great way to get more information. i'm not sure they can always help with the specific problem. it's worth reaching out on twitter. >> for a lot of people, saturday seems to be the lightest travel day of the week. in terms of airlines rebooting, it gives them a little more time. how are sunday and monday looking? >> there aren't that many cancelations yet for sunday. i heard from jetblue that they hope to get operations going at jfk this afternoon and at boston

logan this evening at 6:00. obviously the snow's still coming in boston, so that's wait and see. but they're optimistic. frankly, they've had practice in recent years at getting their flights, unscrambling the mess that the storms create. you know, i think there's reason to be optimistic for tomorrow. >> that's good. i like the glass half full. when it comes to -- we talk about airlines and air travel. a lot of times people would have had hotels booked, as well. are we seeing a similar response in terms of refunds? >> they're being more flexible. i mean, after sandy we were expecting the same sort of response right now from hotels. frankly, if they're in affected areas, they're taking in stranded passengers. so they have a reason to let you out of your booking. >> because they will fill some rooms. if you are stranded, the best way to find a hotel is to go on line? >> they'll give you a great rate for a room nearby you. >> nice to see you. thank you very much. ahead, the teenager who flipped off a judge back in

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nature valley granola bars, nature at its most delicious. ♪ she said, "i haven't done my taxes for a few years." call. what's a few? she said, "i think it's eight." she showed up with four file boxes of paperwork. "here, take my stuff and figure it out." i will do that for you. it's a mental challenge. it's a puzzle. but getting you the maximum refund- that's what i'm here for. bring it on. you may have seen this video this week of a teenager in south florida flipping off and cursing at a judge in court. left a lot of people with their mouths hanging open. the judge threw the book at her. by friday, she had a chance to make amends. so how did it go? here's the story from charles

hadlock. >> reporter: a much more contrite penelope soto was back in court on friday, along with her family and her attorney to ask that the felony contempt of court charges be dropped. >> my behavior was very irrational. and i apologize not only to the court and you but to my family. >> reporter: it was a far different demeanor than soto's first appearance in court last monday on charges of possession of xanax. soto, who is 18, had no prior run-ins with the law. so dade county circuit judge jose rodriguez shamot set bail at $5,000. >> bye-bye. >> adios. >> reporter: but adios was too smart alecy for the judge. >> come back. >> reporter: the judge doubled the bail. >> bail is $10,000. >> are you serious? >> i am serious. adios. >> reporter: that's when soto flipped the bird. >> come back again. >> reporter: that's when the

judge -- >> come back again. >> reporter: piled on the charges. >> i believe i heard you saying to -- >> yes, i did. i'm not going -- >> i believe you -- but say [ bleep ]? >> actually -- >> did you say that? >> yes, sir, i did. >> but say that? i find you in criminal contempt. 30 days in the county jail. >> that's fine. >> when there's outrageous disrespect, the judge has to do something meaningful. here it was jail time. >> reporter: after four nights in jail, soto apologized to the judge and explained cha that she was still high on -- explained that she was still high on alcohol and xanax when she appeared in court and volunteered to attend a drug rehabilitation clinic. a much more forgiving judge vacated soto's 30-day sentence and even suggested that if she kicks her drug habit, she might have a bright future. >> want to be full health -- >> reporter: maybe, but she'll have to learn how to watch her tongue first. for "today," charles hadlock,

nbc news. ahead, the latest on the heavy snowfall across the northeast and when these blizzard-like conditions are expected to stop. first, this is "today" on nbc. [ male announcer ] so there's lots of people out there

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a windy morning in the d.c. area. wind gusts aric maing things very chilly out there. we'll get to chuck bell with your forecast in a moment. first, good morning, everyone. i'm richard jordan. it is 7:56 on this saturday, february 9th, 2013. if you're taking metro this weekend, there is track work that could slow down your ride. on the red line, trains will single track between shady grove and twin brook and between rhode island avenue and tacoma. on the orange line, you'll see trains sharing a track between

ballston to west falls church. hundreds in the district will strip down for a good cause. the annual cupid's undie run starts at pennsylvania avenue. these roads will be closed from 1:00 until 3:00 this afternoon. we'll check the forecast next.

good morning. i'm storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell. man, is it windy outside today. these ferocious winds will be with us all through your saturday morning through most of your saturday afternoon. current temperatures are barely around the freezing mark outside. with such a strong northwesterly wind, windchills are back down into the mid-teens. heavy jackets and scarves and

hats and mittens all required today. m mix of clouds and sunshine. quite windy and staying cold today. temperatures in the mid-30s today. milder day tomorrow. highs into the low and mid-40s. sunshine on your sunday. clouds come back tomorrow afternoon. looks like rain on monday. >> thanks welcome back to "today," saturday morning, the 9th day of february, 2013. that massive blizzard still pounding the northeast this morning with hurricane-force wind gusts in some spots. huge amounts of snow and mass power outages. that's the scene in boston right now. they're still expecting a lot more. i'm lester holt reporting from new york city's central park. my colleague, erica hill, standing by back in studio 1a. good morning again. >> hey, lester. good morning again to you. it looks beautiful there in central park. >> yeah.

beautiful it is. >> beautiful it is. although we know, of course, it can be dangerous elsewhere. this is what it looks like right now in hartford, connecticut. i think we have that picture for you. the city buried in snow. you can barely make out the car underneath there. >> yeah. and here in new york, at least in manhattan, the roads are fairly clear. we've got about maybe up to a foot in new york city. but it's tough when you get out of town. here's the latest. at least one person is reported dead after a traffic accident in upstate new york. the snowfall totals across the northeast are substantial in parts of connecticut. more than three feet have fallen. it's up to 25 inches in boston and portland, maine. here in new york city, as we said, up to a foot. power's been knocked out to nearly 650,000 customers. most of them in massachusetts and rhode island. and more than 1,800 flights have been canceled so far. that's on top of the 3,600 that never took off on friday.

>> yeah. busy day with all of those weather-related incidents. there is a lot of other news happening on this saturday, as well. first up, the search intensifying for a former policeman in l.a. wanted in a killing spree. and we'll also take a look at what happens when you don't get enough sleep. that's a story close to the hearts of many people that we know. we do want to get you the latest on the storm. we'll head back out to lester. >> yeah. this blizzard, erica, has certainly lived up to its billing. it has pounded the northeast. the snow has virtually stopped here in new york. as we move north in new england, it's still tough going. overnight, up to 100 cars stranded by the snow on the long island expressway. that's just the tip of the iceberg with 25 million people here in the northeast virtually snowed in. the new york-to-boston corridor overnight ground to a halt. 25 million people snowed in. before it's over, boston could be buried under a near record two feet.

so bad that driving across massachusetts banned. >> i have now signed an executive order banning vehicle traffic. >> the same goes for rhode island. >> i'm here until they say we can go home and the roads are clear. >> reporter: believe it or not, there's a road just behind this reporter in smithfield, rhode island. airlines canceled flights from philadelphia to boston. up to 3,500 all told, causing a ripple effect across the country. along the new york and new jersey coast, the storm's high tides threatened already battered homes still recovering from hurricane sandy. but it was further north where the snow hit the hardest. connecticut covered with about two feet, and severe wind damage. winds reaching hurricane force took out trees and power for a half million people leading to some close calls. >> if i would have stayed in the car two more seconds, i would be dead today. >> a tree fell on my house, and

it went through the roof and into the family room. >> reporter: conditions so extreme, a rare phenomenon caught on tape and posted to youtube from long island, new york. thunder snow. for this connecticut couple, not canceling their wedding despite the blizzard, the terrible storm will always be a sweet memory. >> everything's going to be great. it's our wirnnter wonderland wedding. >> we'll see how things are going, we have the weather channel's janel klein from hartford. >> reporter: good morning. we're waking up to about three feet of snow in hartford. in some places, there are drifts as high as seven feet. that's got a lot of cars like this stranded on the roads under a lot of snow. in fact, it is so bad trying to be on the roads here, that the connecticut governor has actually shut down all of the roads in the state saying it is just too dangerous for people to be out.

even emergency crews are having a tough time driving on those roads, having a difficult time trying to get to people who need medical attention or other help. and people at home aren't having a lot easier of a time. they are without power in many parts. in fact, 80% of customers in some towns are without power. a lot of extra people brought in to try to repair those lines. but lester, as they try to get out on the road, with high winds and low visibility, many are in the exact same situation as this car -- stuck. >> janel klein, thanks. let's head to boston now. the storm is one for the record books up there. al roker is in copley square. you called this one. nailed it on the head. >> reporter: well, his a lot of help. we had a lot -- a team of great meteorologists, both at the "today" show and at the weather channel. i just got this hat -- deputy commander billy evans from the boston police department personally delivered a hat from

mayor tom menino. so we feel pretty honored. they helped us stay in this parking lot here at copley square. getting going around is tough here in new england. as swede, 21.-- as we said, 21.8 inches. sixth largest snowfall, and we're not done yet. we've got more going on. as you look at the radar, you can still see a spin. we are not done with this by a long shot. we still have winter storm, blizzard warnings up from new york into maine. we've got winter storm warnings to the west there. throughout interior sections of new york and new england. as you see on the radar, it's getting itself together. we're looking at a lot of issues pushing through. the snow continues to come down, especially throughout parts of eastern new england. now the good news is it is starting to taper off. the bad news is, we're still going to pick up another six to eight inches right along the coast. as move to the west, it does start to lessen just a bit. the winds are going to be a big

factor, as well, though. we're going to be looking at sustained winds of 20 to 30 miles per hour. but wind gusts still within tropical-force range. so lester, we continue to deal with a very, very powerful storm for at least another 12 hours, affecting the new england coastline. back to you. >> all right. al, thank you very much. this blizzard has shut down airports here in the northeast with more than 1,800 flights canceled today. as we noted, a lot of flights were also canceled in advance of all this. so you've got a lot of travelers stranded across the country. we have more from new york's laguardia airport. when will things start to return back to normal? >> reporter: there's a good chance that things could begin to pick up a little bit here at laguardia sometime this afternoon. when you look at the board which is what everybody does when they come into an airport, you're not seeing nearly as many cancelation signs on the board now as we saw yesterday. just spo to an attendant with united airlines.

they said they hope to have a flight going out of here at around 1:30 this afternoon. but to houston. nothing talking about going north yet because of what al said about how bad the weather is there. overnight here, we have some people sleeping at the airport. this place was virtually shut down. nothing coming in, nothing going out. it was quiet. it's started to pick up a little bit. at this moment, no flights in. no flights out. they are hopeful something could happen this afternoon. lester? >> all right. that's why they make little airline apps, so folks can track what's going on. thank you very much. and erica, thankfully the snow has tapered off here in the city, in manhattan, which means the streets should be clear enough for me to join you in 10 or 15 minutes. >> which we look forward to. i understand you've been keeping busy in the park making snow angels, mr. holt? we may have pictures of? roy >> reporter: okay, you had pictures.

yes. >> it is begging for a snow angel. i applaud your efforts. did you make a snowman? >> reporter: deny, deny, deny. i didn't make a snowman, but that is kind of snow. it is wet and clumped together. you could -- you have video, too? >> you know the rule -- the camera is always on. >> reporter: i couldn't resist. and you know what, in new york city, if you want to do that, you got to do it quick before it turns from white if you know what i mean. >> i know exactly what you mean because it's not quite 9:00 and dogs are still allowed off leash in central park this hour. >> reporter: they are. and i've seen people on skis. >> which i love. tw it's amazing, they break out the skis whenever there's snow? new york city. they must keep them under the bed. want to turn to another big story this morning. that massive manhunt for a former police officer who is now an accused cop killer. christopher dorner remains at large. and police are concerned he could kill again.

we have more live from lapd headquarters for us this morning. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. lapd headquarters has always been a target. so today it remains a fortress, still heavily guarded. this as the search for the suspect winds down in one area but continues all across the state. overnight, police officers slowly pull out of big bear after completing a door-to-door search of some 600 cabins. >> police. >> reporter: for two days, at times in blizzard-like conditions, heavily armed tactical teams scoured the mountain hunting a man who used to be one of their own. but today, still no sign of murder suspect christoper dorner. >> the level of -- christopher dorner. >> the level of frustration is that it's taking longer for them to do what they do best. that's their only frustration. it's the snow is really slowing them down. >> reporter: as police circulate new surveillance pictures of dorner taken just days before the killing began, officers near

los angeles served a search warrant at his mother's home. teams bagged evidence but made no arrests. >> at this point, we're looking for any evidence that would lead to whereabouts. >> officer shot multiple times. >> reporter: the former lapd officer is accused of murdering three. among the victims, a 34-year-old riverside police officer who can't be named because police fear dorner will go after his loved ones. >> this individual has a history of targeting families. so who knows. we don't want to risk that he may target the family of an officer he killed or wounded. >> reporter: in a chilling manifesto, dorner posted on line, named officers and families he's targeted for revenge for being fired. dr. larry barton believes dorner is a psychopath. >> he could be mad at god, mad at life, mad at your employer. when you name specific people, that's when we get concerned. >> reporter: with police on a third day of tactical alert,

there have been many false sightings. a two-hour traffic jam as officers search for dorner. in san diego and las vegas, cases of mistaken identity. >> i'm fearful. i don't even want to be here now. >> reporter: a region on edge as police say a cop killer may strike again. this morning, the lapd confirms six of their officers are on paid administrative leave after opening fire on a vehicle they thought was dorner. instead inside, two people delivering newspapers, a 71-year-old woman and her daughter were shot multiple times. they are in the hospital recovering from their injuries. and this morning, erica, they have an attorney. >> all right. thank you. want to get a check of some of the morning's other top stories from jenna wolfe. good morning. >> hey, good morning. so first lady michelle obama will be in chicago today for the funeral of the teenage girl who was killed by random gun violence. mourners packed the church on friday for 15-year-old hadiya

pendleton's wake. the teen was gunned down near her school a week after attending president obama's inauguration. it has been a year since former penn state head coach joe paterno passed away. his wife is fighting back in accusations against him. sue paterno sent a letter to former penn state football players saying the man who was investigated in the freeh report was not the man she knew as her husband. mrs. paterno calls her husband a moral and disciplined man. her letter comes as the family prepares to release its own report responding to findings after the jerry sandusky scandal. an unusual traffic backup on a houston highway on friday when a house that was being hauled on the back of a trailer wound up all over the road. the house was smashed to pieces. look at that. with just one lone wall left standing. check, please, on that one. finally, blizzards don't stop biebers. say that 85 times. justin bieber's fans waited for

days to see him perform on "saturday night live." while they waited, the biebs and "snl" sent them pizza. not bad. standby tickets aren't usually handed out until saturday morning unless there's a huge blizzard and nor'easter in the northeast. then they make exceptions and hand them out on friday night. again, mind you, there's still over, what, 12 hours or so until "saturday night live." these mostly ladies have been waiting a very, very, very, very long time. >> i was there -- >> mostly ladies and bill karins. >> a very long time. >> yeah. yeah. you know, even when you e-mailed me and asked me to wait in line, i thought, doesn't somebody at this network have a connection? did we have someone when we were that age -- anyone you would have waited that long for? >> i don't know that i would have. it's easy to say that now. thinking back -- >> come on. reveal the posters on your wall. who did you have on your bedroom wall? >> i remember camping out for u2 tickets. >> no. i -- >> i would wait in line for michael j. fox. i would have done anything for michael j. fox. literally anything. >> he doesn't even sing --

>> what was waiting for? >> i don't know. >> we'll examine that in another segment. >> or maybe we won't. i don't know. maybe we won't. bill karins is here with a check of the national forecast which is pretty busy. good morning. >> good morning. not that we needed the details to know it was an historic storm, but officially, portland, maine, reported 29.3 inches. this makes portland, maine's, largest ever snowstorm. that's how significant this is in the record books. boston now, the sixth largest snowstorm in their history. they need 5.5 more inches, the biggest ever. they could do. it let's show what we're dealing with. we have a new storm, this is out in the middle of the country. it's going to create blizzard conditions from areas around just outside of rapids city. this is a northern plains special from the dakotas all the way up to areas like fargo. the tail end of this, we could have severe storms with a slight risk of -- maybe a damaging wind and small hail. i don't think we'll deal with too many tornadoes this weekend.

gad morning, everybody. i'm storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell. the sun is shining, but it is cold outside, and it is really windy. you're going to need to take extra precautions today. extra layers of warmth. all that required. temperatures aren't too terribly cold. they're in the upper 20s and low 30s, but windchills remain well down into the teens early this morning. so bright sunshine and cold here through the rest of your saturday morning. a milder day with a little more sunshine on your sunday. >> good news for the east coast, no big storms after this. >> that is very good news. bill, thanks. still to come, the cost of being drowsy. how your lack of sleep affects your company's bottom line. and a windfall from the snowfall. states welcoming the blast of winter weather. we're not just talking about the kids. that's after these messages. tif. tell me we'll grow old together. in sickness and in health. tell me that i'm still the one.

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opportunity to make a little money. michelle franzen is in central park with that part of the story. good morning. >> reporter: well, good morning, erica. it's picturesque here in central park. when a storm like this big hits, it can wipe out the annual snow-removal budget for cities in jus one shot. millions of dollars spent on sand, salt, and snowplows and removal. but there are also businesses and retailers that thrive during and after the storm. when the weather outside is frightful, some people have to be out in it. whether working the plows or traveling snow-packed roads. >> the conditions are horrible. yeah, we've obviously had worse. it's only going to get worse from here. >> reporter: then there are those who revel in whatever mother nature dishes out. >> it's beautiful. i love it. it's been two years, yeah. no, it rocks. >> reporter: love it or loathe it, there is no business like snow business. for cities and towns trying to

budget for snow removal and cleanup, all this snow adds up. >> the problem they run into is when they get a big storm and all of a sudden they spend the whole budget on that storm and there's nothing rest for the rest of the winter. >> reporter: new york city estimates it costs $1 million per inch of snow to clear. on the plus side, all this snow can be good for business. >> the retailers, the lowe's, the home depots of the world, they'll see more sales as people prepare for the storm. >> reporter: and ski resorts will be able to make up for the slow start to the season. in new york city's times square, the storm couldn't keep tourist from waiting in line for tickets to a broadway show. >> we're from minnesota, so i guess maybe we're used to this. >> freezing. >> reporter: outside rockefeller center, die hard justin bieber fans camped out for the chance to see him host "saturday night live." ♪ if i was your boyfriend never let you go ♪

>> bieber! >> i just love justin, and i'd wait if it was like a tornado. >> reporter: still the cold and snow and wait tested even the most devoted fans. >> this was times in the first maybe five, eight hours, and now it's just miserable. >> reporter: and there are also the costs to businesses who had to close early and mass transit and airline cancelations. the total tab for this storm won't be known for a few weeks. >> we can probably guess that it will be large. thank you. still ahead, more blizzard coverage. first, this is "today" on nbc. (vo) they were married for... 53 years. she was his everything. he can't live alone anymore. but we don't have the room. so, we talked to suntrust... looked at our options... remodeled...

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we're waking up to ferocious winds whipping through the region. you can see the live look here at union station. the flag a good example of that. chuck bell is going to have a look at your forecast coming up in a few. first, good morning. it's 8:26. i'm angie goff. in the news, one woman is dead after police say she charged them with a knife. it happened at an apartment complex on 53rd avenue late last night. when the woman attacked, at least one officer fired their gun, killing the woman. police have not released her

identity. officials at the university of maryland are warning students to be safe after another robbery, the fourth in just the past two weeks. this latest one happened just off campus last night around 11:00 along lakeland road near rhode island avenue. umd police say two armed men held up a group walking down the street. jus this past thursday night, police say someone held up a woman at gunpoint. police warn students not to walk alone at night. hundreds will brave the cold this afternoon in nothing but their undies all for a good cause. it's the annul cupid's undie run, helping rain money for the children's tumor foundation. it starts on pennsylvania halve and heads west on independence avenue. these roads will be closed from 1:00 to 3:30. afternoon. brave, brave souls. chuck we gotta sell the car.

where would we even start? get the car. hi howard. get in. hi, good to see you. start with an actual written offer when selling your car, no strings attached. carmax. start here.

well, host a die-hard runner, but i doubt we're going to see meteorologist chuck bell out at the cupid's undie run today. >> fortunately, i am at work. that's a legitimate excuse for me. if you're planning on taking place that run or any other run, i suggest an extra layer of warmth. temperatures are only in the upper 20s to around the freezing mark right now. if you haven't stepped outside

yet, you're in for a big, windy surprise. windchills in the teens. winds are going to be gusting between 30 and 40 miles an hour here for much of the morning. a very windy day today. a little milder and less windy tomorrow ahead of monday's next rain chance. back to you. >> thank you, chuck. we have an hour of news, weather, and sports back with you on a saturday morning, february 9, 2013. looking at a live picture of hartford, connecticut. you see the wind blowing the snow around. parts of the state under more than three feet of snow after this monster storm which is still pounding areas. we'll have live reports from al roker and the weather channel's mike seidel. they are both in massachusetts. that's coming up in a moment. a shot there for you. back inside a warm and toasty studio 1a, i'm erica hill along with lester holt, jenna wolfe, and bill karins filling in for dylan dreyer this morning. still to come this half-hour, storms but also sleet. we don't know much about -- also

sleep. we don't know much about sleep. >> we've had heard about it. a study shows employees who are sleep deprived costs companies big bucks. now some firms have come up with unusual methods to make sure their workers get enough rest. unfortunately not our firm. we'll show you -- >> maybe they're watching. plus, a lot of you have e-mailed, tweeted, skyped a couple of fitness questions. this morning, i'll answer a lot of them including how to get toned arms, how to keep yourself from getting bored at the gym, how to not plateau. >> what i f i wo-- what if i wo for four hours of sleep? >> just this, stay awake. if you stay awake, you're golden. later, it's one of those cold winter days. maybe you want comfort food without messing up the tips that you'll get from jenna. we have my cauliflower -- it's healthy and delicious. >> and really hot? my fingers haven't warmed up. >> you can put them on the pot and eventually when you feel your fingers again, that's when

you know they're burning and you should remove them. >> and the soup is ready. looking forward to that. let's get the latest on this blizzard in the northeast. al roker's in boston. copley square for us. good morning again. >> reporter: hey, good morning, guys. just braekeaking news, the gover of rhode island has closed all the roads in rhode island. that joins connecticut and also massachusetts. roads closed officially. so you know, people taking this storm very, very seriously. let's take a look -- we've got some statistics now. the top five amounts of snow that have fallen in this area, milford, connecticut, 38 inches of snow. oxford, connecticut, 36. new haven, 34 inches of snow. we're looking at milford, as we said, new haven. madison, 32 inches. oxford, 36. boston, officially 21.8 inches

of snow. so it's going to continue to come down. and this storm system really came together. we were talking about this on monday. but what happened was two storms really came together and provided -- one providing the moisture. the other providing the cold air. and boy, did they really phase together two days ago and just came up the coast and walloped the northeast and new england. and continue to have problems. snowfall amounts are still coming down. we've started to see the snow starting to lighten up just a little bit here in boston. but as you move north here and along the shoreline, we still have one to two-inch snowfalls per hour. so total, additional accumulation over the next 24 hours, about four to eight inches of snow right here along the coast. boston to the north. to the west, two to four inches. further west, the areas in

white, one to three inches. winds still going to be a problem. those winds are going to continue gusting around tropical force winds. but sustained winds anywhere from, oh, i'd say 20 to 25, 30 miles per hour. so again, guys, still a dangerous changeable situation. and again, all roads in rhode island have been closed joining connecticut and massachusetts. so if you are trying to get, say, from massachusetts to new york and you were driving, forget it. you can't do it. so stay home and stay safe. back to you. >> all right. same for you. and at least folks have had a lot of warning about this. >> thankfully so. they do seem in many cases to have heeded warnings which is really important. want to check in with the weather channel's mike seidel who is north of boston in revere beach, massachusetts. mike, good morning. >> reporter: and good morning, erica. behind me is the angry north atlantic. the next high tide is the high tide as concerned, these waves here are only 10 to 12 footers.

but down south toward scituate and sandwich on the cape, looking at 20-foot breakers. on top of a surge, they may run as high as two to three feet in sandwich. they've already ordered evacuations in scituate. snow here, four to five miles away where al is. four to five-foot drifts here. this is the beach at revere. the tide is coming in, high tide at 10:00 a.m. this morning. they've got a sea wall. no concerns here about the water getting over the sea wall in the property. very few cars out overnight. we've seen plows go all night long here. what a storm. we've had wind gust out here over 60 miles per hour. that has not got a lot of power. in the state of massachusetts alone, 400,000 customers without power. and the power companies are saying it could be at least three days. and in the short term, they can't get the bucket trucks out and up because the winds are too strong. as al mentioned, a lot of snow now, lester and erica. this ranks number six in boston. likely end up number five on the

record books as the biggest storm. portland, maine, has come in with over 29 inches. they've had their biggest snowstorm on record up the coast. lester, erica, back to you. >> record-setting in so many ways. thanks. and bill karins is on the plaza. he's got the rest of the national forecast. good morning. >> yeah. we want to, of course, thank and welcome all the lovely people who came to join us. we have our florida friends, south carolina friends. a couple from maryland today. and here are all the young ladies waving. and they asked what the weather was like in baltimore, i said, still cold and chilly. but just don't have the white stuff. the storm wasn't for you guys. wanted to show what we'll deal with as

good morning, everybody. i'm storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell. outside of our window, the wind continues to whip on by. a northwest wind gusting over 40 miles per hour across most of the area right now. manes you are going it need to bundle up this morning. current air temperatures are in the upper 20s and low 30s, but windchills remain way down in the teens. so your saturday start, temperature the in the low to mid-30s this morning climbing only to the upper 30s to near 40 dater today. >> they did such a good job of removing snow with all the tourists around, but this is how much snow we had on the plaza. that's untouched up there. officially 11 inches in central park. we'll call it eight to ten compacted, erica. we did get it in new york city, but not half as bad as our friends in new england. >> that's for sure. thank you very much. it is no secret working in a show like this one, for example, means we get up really early.

you know that. a lot of people have jobs where they get up early. so you know what it's like to not feel like you got enough sleep. a study shows when you don't get enough shuteye, you're a lot less productive at work. that is impacting the bottom line for many companies. just a few questions, are you sleeping at night? >> he doesn't sleep at all. >> reporter: americans aren't just sleepless in seattle anymore -- [ banging ] >> birthday time is over. go make up for all the work you missed had you were taking your nap. >> reporter: or shooti-- or sno the office. a whop 41 million of us don't get enough sleep at night. you should get eight at night, 1/3 get about six. >> on a good night i get four hours. on a bad night i get at least two. >> possible that being sleep deprived and not having enough rest makes me not as sharp as i should be. >> reporter: according to a harvard study, sleepy workers cost companies a lot. >> if we treated machinery like

we're treating the human body, we would be accused of reckless endangerment. >> reporter: businesses lose more than $63 billion every year because the drier whoa drag themselves in -- dreary who drag themselves are aren't as productive. >> slower reaction time. and in terms of cognitive ability, you can't process information as well. you don't remember. you start to forget things. you're not creative. >> reporter: now some companies like "huffington post" are actually helping employees get away from it all by installing futuristic nap pods like this one. excuse me. ♪ >> reporter: outsiders looking in who might say, gosh, at huffington, she's encouraging laziness. >> oh, god, not at all. encouraging actually productivity. i think sleep is a performance enhancement tool. >> reporter: "huffington post" editor-in-chief insisted on two nap rooms for the 300-plus who staff for around-the-clock news

operation. >> you come up to the nap room. a little bit of -- little bit of this action. >> reporter: that's rich. >> and then 15 minutes in this bad boy, i am knocking the ball out of the park, my friend. >> reporter: so what do you do if your company won't spring for fancy chairs and isn't dedicated to middle of the day shuteye? get creative. >> where do i nap? anywhere i can find a place. >> at your desk. you see what's there, and you can doze off for a second or two. >> back of my chair. the bus. >> i have a six-foot sofa in my office which, being 6'2" doesn't quite work out. >> the subway. >> in the past, i've had maybe a couch in my office, i could close the door. >> in someone else's car. >> if you've got a couch and a dark office, you should share with somebody who needs a nap. >> good night, everybody. >> reporter: for "today," nbc news, new york. >> if you don't have a couch or a room at work where you can take a nap, don't worry. there's something called the ostrich pillow.

here it is. turns out it will turn any desk into a comfortable sleeping situation. this is what the manufacturers claim. jenna, how's it going for you? >> and this is the look. >> jenna? >> like a micromat -- how is that working out? >> this is so stupid. >> it's become a viral hit. >> come on! seriously? >> they're used in commercials -- >> i could be arrested if i was out in public like this. >> you're not supposed to be in public. you're supposed to be napping. >> then you put your hands. you have a place to put your head -- >> let me ask this -- do i look comfortable? >> no, you're supposed to lay down. >> do you come in peace? this thing went viral. it's -- >> sort of a kick-starter campaign. that sort of viral funding. >> i was going to put it on, but now that i see jenna, i don't think i'm going to actually -- seriously, would you in your office, would you use it? >> i think this thing would terrify me. it's very claustrophobic in here. yeah, i guess -- you know, desperate times call for

desperate measures. look, it works in the control room. absolutely. yes. >> who is driving this bus, by the way? >> let's be honest, we're so tired sometimes it doesn't take much to fall asleep. >> look at this. >> i could fall asleep standing up. >> they look like they're from roswell. >> speaking of drawing the short straw this morning. up next, you've got questions, jenna's got answers. toning arms -- i extent that in. stay with us. of "i'm a new pare" and "i have no idea what i'm doing," you need a hand. well, walgreens is innovating to help. by making prescription refills this easy. and we're bringing our pharmacists out front to answer your questions. at walgreens, we'll do more than help you get well. we'll help you stay well and live well. because that's what it really means to be at the corner of happy and healthy. try our entrees, snacks and new salads.

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a new series starts this morning. "ask jenna," not here in studio 1a, she's helping people work out now that she's a certified personal trainer. she can answer questions about exercise which there are many. ready? >> yeah. let's do it! >> our first question is from a caller. barbara's on the phone from goose creek, south carolina. barbara, what's your question for jenna? >> caller: good morning, enamp i'm 42 years old -- jenna, i'm 42 years old and have lost 43 pounds. i've hit a plateau and am at 194 pound. i kickbox, have a boot camp class, i am eating properly, promise you. but i indulge once a week so i don't go crazy with eating. what do i do to get past plateaus? >> plateaus are very big. people feel like they get to some certain weight and can't do anything else. if you bike, try the elliptical. if you do the elliptical, try

the treadmill. here's an idea -- get on the treadmill, run for three minutes at a brisk pace or even a sprint if you will, and then break it up with a different exercise. here's three different exercises. you get on the treadmill for three minutes, get off, why don't you do a set of 20 -- kick out, kick in and jump up. you can do something like that. get back on the treadmill for three minutes, come off, do what's called the goblet squat. grab a can of soup, bottle of water, a weight. we'll use water. squad down, come up, pivot. do 20 those. get back on the treadmill, come off. for your third exercise, do just about anything. how about a pike? get down over here, do about 30, come down nice and easy, what tell do, it will spike your hart rate, give you something -- heart rate, give you something different. it will give you strength training and calories. >> it fools your muscles do into doing more work -- >> when you surprise your muscles, they work harder and you burn more calories. >> the next question is via skype from lisa.

good morning. >> good morning and congratulations, jenna, on your certificati certification. >> thank you. >> i work out five to six days a week and maintain a balance between cardio and strength training. i don't incorporate yoga or pilates. is it important to add these activities? and what would you shoot for as a balance? >> if you're going to give yourself four to five days a week of working out, i would love to see you do cardio three days a week, strength training two days a week. and leave a sixth day to do whatever you want, to have fun, play a game of pickup basketball, to take a yoga class, maybe substitute one of the cardios for a yoga. but just to do something that's a little more fun. so definitely get your strength training in there. it's so important especially for women to do that. >> all right. good questions. good answers. thank you very much. >> appreciate it. >> all right. and ahead, some comfort food for your saturday morning that will not ruin jenna's tips, i promise. we're making -- >> right? >> we're making cauliflower soup. mm.

first, this is "today" on nbc. ♪ ♪ i'm halfway to your heart ♪ you have to let me know ♪ so i don't make my worst mistake ♪

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♪ if ever there was a day for comfort food, this might be it. >> smells good. >> yeah. cooking today would be the day. the last few weekends, erica has been showing us her mac and cheese, beef burgundy, so good, by the way. now soup. >> let's go 3-3. we're making cauliflower soup. you may think blech. no. >> change it -- >> i'm going to race through this quickly, we're tight on time. i throw in the pot, we have leeks, shallots and a little olive oil. i like leeks and shallots because it gives it more robust flavor, richer than onions. get those until they're translucent. soft but not brown. dump in a head of cauliflower. stir this around. cook it for a couple of minutes. after that, you're going to power in -- use chicken stock or

vegetable stock. i make it with vegetable stock for my friend mary murphy who doesn't eat anything -- >> whole thing? >> yes. dump it in. throw in bay leaves -- >> could you use something other than cauliflower? >> you could. this works well with asparagus. you'll want to adjust the amount -- throw in the bay leaves. you'll want to adjust the amount of liquid because asparagus has so much liquid in it naturally. if you want a creamier soup, use less liquid. simmer for 20 minutes. and then the very important job which jenna has today, if you have an immersion blender, you can do this in the pot. there you go. and when it works, what it will do is grind up -- >> yes. >> nice. >> puree the cauliflower. make sure you remove the bay leaves first. you can also do it in batches in a blender if you need to. and then season it with salt and pepper to taste. and stand back if jenna's in the kitchen. >> okay. anyway, consider that done. it was awesome. >> consider it done. i like to serve it -- you could do it as a first course, you

could also do it as your main. i highly recommend serving it with crostini which we have here. bill, do you want to hand out the soup? these we just do -- brush with olive oil. you toast them in the oven, a dash of olive oil. there you go. i like to sprinkle them with a little part -- little parm. not grated. thyme. >> bill's like, oh, we're on a bunch and time crunch. everyone gets one teaspoon. >> if you want to add extra color, you could sprinkle fresh herbs on top like so. gives it a nice bit of color. >> sprinkle cheese? >> sprinkle cheese. >> that's for you. >> thank you. >> it's healthy, right? >> yeah. this is actually very healthy. but i'm sure it's absolutely delicious. >> not a big caller flower fuli. >> did i win you over? >> it's really, really good. >> thank you. [ man ] with a cold or flu, nighttime nasal congestion

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i would just like to say, lester had seconds and he thought he wouldn't like. yes! >> it's good. especially with it cold outside. >> he'll eat anything. >> i'm kidding. >> good morning.

i'm angie goff. >> and i'm richard jordan. straight ahead on news 4 today, the big blizzard lives up to the hype. these are live pictures from boston, massachusetts, where that snow is having a major impact. here it is, too. let's go to derek. >> reporter: well, we didn't get the snow, but we're certainly feeling the effects. i'll have details coming up. >> that's right, derek. anybody who's planning on flying or traveling to new york by bus or plane, plan to stay here in washington, d.c. we'll talk about the forecast in a few. and new this morning, a woman comes charging at police with a knife. yet another campus alert overnight for students at the university of maryland. >> all that and more when you join us for news 4 today.

few from overnight, the first reported death from the northeast snowstorm. snow coming down right now and how the bizarre weather system is impacting us here in the d.c. area. >> plus, we have a big weather headline of our own. strong winds whip through the d.c. region. hold on tight, everyone. good morning. i'm richard jordan. >> and i'm angie goff. welcome to news 4 today. it is saturday, february 9th, 2013. definitely the northeast getting hit hard. our neighbors to the north. waer feeling the impact of the strong winds. >> let's see how strong those winds actually are. here's meteorologist chuck bell. >> good